Kingdom Quarterback

Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs, and How a Once Swingin' Cow Town Chased the Ultimate Comeback

By: Mark Dent, Rustin Dodd

Narrated by: Kemet Coleman

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Fresh off of a gutsy, thrilling 2023 Super Bowl win for the Kansas City Chiefs, two inspiring stories that fit perfectly together—a biography of superstar quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who brought the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl win in fifty years in 2020 as well as a second in 2023, along with the historical struggles and recent resurgence of the former “Paris of the Plains,” Kansas City.

There is nobody like Patrick Mahomes.

In three seasons, he has won a Super Bowl and competed in another, earned the titles of First Team All-Pro, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and league MVP, and turned the Kansas City Chiefs from famed playoff failures into the most successful team in the NFL. With his unique and groundbreaking playing style, and winning personality both on and off the field, Mahomes has become a truly transcendent quarterback in a journey that mirrors and accentuates the rebirth of the once swingin’ cow town of Kansas City, Missouri.

Once an adventure-filled jazz epicenter and nightlife hub to rival New Orleans, Kansas City’s wild edges and captivating neighborhoods were snuffed out in pursuit of a suburbanized dream that largely left out people of color. It’s been a long road attempting to move past the scars of segregation and overcome the city’s flyover reputation, but Kansas City is now poised to make a comeback, and no other person or team embodies that hope like Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City and Mahomes represent the story of the midwestern American city—how they grew, how they shaped the country, how the sport of football came to mean so much to them, how they failed, and how they are changing.

Kansas City-area natives Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd have written for outlets such as The New York Times, The Kansas City Star, and Texas Monthly, bringing their deep connection to the city, football expertise, and polished writing skills to create a serious book about a very entertaining subject—the rebirth of a city, a team’s triumph, and how Patrick Mahomes, and the team he led, were exactly what was needed to bring Kansas City back together again.

©2023 Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Sportswriters Dent and Dodd cover three subjects in writing that is lively, vivid, well-organized, understandable to non-football-oriented readers, and up-to-the minute.”—Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)

“Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd write a story here that is bigger than Patrick Mahomes—and it's hard to imagine ANYTHING being bigger than Patrick Mahomes. They tell the remarkable history of a thoroughly American city and its pathway to the center of professional football.”—Joe Posnanski, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Why We Love Baseball

"Patrick Mahomes is a civic treasure—the embodiment of Kansas City's highest aspirations, and the walking rebuttal to the darkest moments of its past. Kingdom Quarterback is the book that explains why. Mark Dent and Rustin Dodd take readers on an enlightening and entertaining walk through past and present, through speakeasies and locker rooms, through systemic racism and into the mind of a football genius, deftly telling the intertwined stories of a uniquely skilled quarterback and a uniquely American city. There is still no earthly explanation for what Mahomes can do. But this book shows why he matters."—Michael Rosenberg, senior writer, Sports Illustrated, and author of War As They Knew It: Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, and America in a Time of Unrest

totally enjoyed it his book!!!

Totally enjoyed listening to this book Go Chiefs Go Chiefs Go Chiefs Go Chiefs

Entertaining & compelling mix of football & policy

As a hardcore public policy nerd with complicated feelings about football (a sport I last loved when the Tyler Rose of another era commanded everyone's attantion) and a rather tenuous connection to Kansas City, I wasn't sure how this mash-up of two seemingly disparate narratives would come together.

If you're not sure either, trust me - take a chance and you won't be disappointed. I thought I'd listen in bite-sized sessions at the gym over the course of a couple of months, but ended up finishing in just a couple of days after it was published to find out where the stories landed.

Great job, Rustin and Mark. I hope Patrick Mahomes continues to dazzle fans and deliver more parades to your beloved and beautiful city. I hope that city finds a way to emulate the gracefulness and originality of their kingdom quarterback to find a more certain and nimble path towards racial equity. And I hope you'll continue to amplify the voices and work of the activists who will light the fires and keep that path illuminated.

Deceptive book

Liberal gobbly gook that couldn’t get published without using Pat Mahomes as a vessel. Sad.